Practicing Gratitude during the Holidays and beyond

I know it’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post, so I thought after Christmas would be the best time to do so.

It is the Holiday season and we are in the midst of so much Commercialization that we may forget the importance aspects of the Holiday Season.

Many people like myself, use this Holiday to Celebrate the birth of Jesus. The wise men came bearing gifts when they actually found Jesus, which is why we give gifts at this time. As businesses continue to grow, advertising of products also continues to increase. This creates interest among kids and adults to request certain gifts for the Holiday season. However, the problem does not lie in giving gifts; it’s in receiving them. Do we concentrate more on receiving things or do we truly appreciate the gift?

It appears to me that many people are more concerned with receiving the right things instead of being grateful towards the person who gave it. Many people put a lot of thought into a gift, soit can come as a slap in their face when the person on the receiving end does not have an attitude of gratitude.

What is Gratitude?

Gratitude is defined as the quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful.

So are we grateful for the gifts we receive? or even for the gifts we give? Do we just take these things and use them and never really appreciate the value behind it?

I think that the during this time of year we should definitely practice having an attitude of gratitude. We should be thankful for the gifts we receive and even more thankful for the people that gave them to us.

Gratitude for gifts is not the only area we should focus on….

We should also show gratitude in our everyday lives.

Things to be Grateful for:

– Be grateful for the people that surround you, whether it be friends, family, coworkers, teammates, etc.

– Be grateful for the most important things such as having your senses, being able to walk, talk, sing, dance, or just being able to exist.

– Be grateful for the small things such as someone holding the door open for you as you walk in, or receiving a compliment.

-Be grateful for your state of mind; while there are people who suffer from mental illness, you may not. Even if you do have issues with your mental health (depression, anxiety, etc.) be grateful for every time that you overcome it, no matter how small it may seem.

-Be grateful for each milestone you reach throughout the day, week, month or year.

Having gratitude towards anything takes a conscious effort to do so. With that being said, you may have to incorporate some tasks into your schedule to get this practice started. I would definitely recommend taking the time to make a daily gratitude list. Write down what you are thankful or grateful for and why. When your week comes to an end. Take a look at all that you were grateful for and try to make the conscious effort to continue that cycle into the next week.

I pray this will help you to realize the positive things around you and inside of you and develop a genuine appreciation for them.